Revelations
by Jeem
Summary: Katara has been having trouble sleeping lately, caused by confusion about her emotions and feelings. She wants to find out what's going on with her, which isn't easy. Toph wants to help the waterbender, but she struggles with keeping up her tough attitude towards Katara...
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so this is my first writing on ! Also my first A;TLA one, so I really hope you guys like it. If you find any mistakes in it or have got tips for me, please do tell me in a review! c:

I also don't own any rights over the characters of Avatar; The last airbender. I write it for myself and for others to read, I don't make any profit on it in any way.

Enjoy! c:

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Dawn hadn't even set in yet when the Southern Water bender woke up, she didn't sleep much lately; waking up several times a night, weird dreams or just trains of thought that wouldn't stop and kept her from falling asleep. She sighed while she sat up and rubbed her eyes, she decided to go for a walk. Hoping that it'd help to clear her head and maybe allow her to get some more sleep, later. The rest wouldn't wake up for a few hours after all, if she was careful and didn't wake them by making too much noise.

As quietly as possible the water bender got dressed in her daily outfit and tied her hair in a loose ponytail, which rested on her back and covered her neck. There was a cool breeze and she felt dew against her feet when she stepped on the grass. She hesitated for a few seconds before she went back to put on her boots, just to be sure her feet wouldn't get too cold.

But not too much later she slightly regretted putting on her boots as she heard the ground beneath them making more noise than she expected. She just hoped it wouldn't wake anyone else, it was bad enough already that she had a lack of sleep; she didn't want to be the cause of other's lack of sleep.

She reached the small lake that was about a fifteen minute-walk from their camp, nobody would be able to hear her, which allowed her to water bend without needing to hold back. She wouldn't be able to wake anyone with such distance between her and her friends.

She looked up to the almost full moon in awe, the sky was clear, only a few tiny clouds drifted slowly through the air. She looked at the water and raised her arms and hands, creating an orb-form out of water; she moved it through the air, from the left to the right. Then she outstretched her arms, causing the orb to stretch out as well, when she focused to try a new move the outstretched orb suddenly exploded into thousands of droplets, falling back into the lake. Another sigh slipped through the Southern water bender's lips, her head was so full, and she couldn't even focus long enough to practice water bending.

"What is going on? What is wrong with me? Why can't I sleep through the night, just one night, is that so much asked for?" The question wasn't directed to anyone, she just felt like she couldn't keep it in any longer. It actually felt quit good to get it out, since no one would hear her, why should she keep it in?

"I just want to sleep, have a good night of sleep. I can't go on like this much longer. What is wrong with me?" She wasn't sure _what _was wrong with her, the only thing she knew that she was confused and that her feelings were even more confusing. She had tried to act normal around her friends the last week, not wanting to bother them with something she couldn't even figure out herself. So how would her friends be able to? This was something she had to find out herself, this was her battle. she had to fight it herself.

Suddenly tears spilled down her face, she didn't even realize until she felt tiny drops falling on her arms. She sat down a few minutes ago, her back resting against a tree trunk. She wiped away the tears and pulled up her legs and put her arms around them, then rested her chin on her knees. She felt small, but somehow safe. It was eerie silent, only the cool breeze against the water sounded softly, creating ripples starting small but growing bigger and wider until they reached the edges of the lake.

"Katara?" Even though the voice was not more than a whisper, it made her jump a little and she gasped. But she recognized the voice and let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, it's just you. Toph, you startled me…" she responded and heard how Toph was sitting down next to her.

"Well, that's what you get from sneaking away in the night, Sugar Queen." Normally Katara would flinch and protest on the nickname Toph used for her, but right now she actually didn't really care. She didn't have the energy to protest, she was tired and tried to save up every bit of energy she could. She just sighed and looked down at the water of the lake, reflecting the almost full moon.

"Okay, what is it? I can feel that there's a lot going on in that head of yours, it makes the ground beneath you practically tremble. And it has been going on for several days now, don't even try to tell me that it's nothing; I might be blind, but I can see that you've been acting differently." For a few seconds Katara wasn't exactly sure what to say, how to respond, had it been _that_ obvious?

"I… I don't know…" she answered.

"Hmm, you're telling the truth…" Toph murmured, "I wish I could help, Sugar Queen. Seriously. It's getting on my nerves."

"Well sorry, Miss Sourpuss, I can't help it! I wish I could stop it, I wish I could push it all away, but I can't, I've been trying that the whole time already!" Katara hissed, not wanting to wake to boys up, too. Tears escaped from the corners of her eyes again and fell down on her forearms and knees.

"I'm just trying to help…" Toph said in a whisper, taken aback by Katara's sudden 'outburst'.

"Well, you _can't_! Because I can't even help myself!" Katara's body started to quiver and tremble softly, not being able to keep still anymore.

"Maybe it'll help if you allow somebody to actually try and help you," Toph suggested.

Says the person who never lets anyone help _her_,"Katara sneered, immediately regretting it. This was unfair, Toph just tried to help, it wasn't her fault. Not really.

"I'm so—"  
"I know, don't apologize. Because you're right, I don't even follow up my own advice." The blind girl sat next to Katara, not saying anything anymore.

"I just wish I could end this confusion inside me already," Katara sighed.

"Confusion about what?" Toph asked, actually sounding as if she cared. But Katara didn't answer right away, she wanted to spill it all out to the earth bender, but their friendship wasn't what you would call the best. They'd had quite some arguments since the blind girl joined the group.

"Okay, look Sugar Queen, I'm trying to help here, and I know I'm not good at that, but I'm trying. But if you're not going to say anything, I'll leave. Your pick."

"Sorry Toph, I know you are and I appreciate that. It's just—"

"It's just _what _Katara? Just say it already!"

"I'm confused about my feelings, okay?! I don't even know exactly anymore _how _I feel or what I'm _supposed _to feel!" Katara spat while making hand-gestures, which she later realized that it was no use since Toph wouldn't see it anyway.

"Just accept it; you're not _supposed _to feel a certain way. Nobody can tell you _how _or _what _to feel, they tried to tell me that, but I didn't take it. Nobody can tell me how I'm supposed to live my life, how to feel, how to act or whatever. I'm so glad I left home, I've never felt so free," Toph rambled, pointing her finger on Katara's chest, sighing the last part. Katara stared at Toph, the girl's words had sound so… _wise_…

"What is it? You're suddenly so still…" Toph asked, her voice getting softer at the end of the sentence. She sensed that there was a lot that was haunting the water bender, she'd sensed It a while ago for the first time, but it was still there, keeping her friend Katara awake most part of the nights.

Katara knew what the earth bender meant. it must've been the change of her heartbeat or something like that. "Katara, this is not funny," Toph said when Katara didn't answer. Katara turned her body a quarter and threw her arms around her friend, who reacted startled. "Whoa, Katara, I didn't see _that_ coming. Literally…"

"Sorry Toph," Katara apologized and broke the embrace by pulling away her arms. "But I think I found at least one, or a part of the reason why I'm having trouble sleeping lately, thanks to you." She looked at Toph, her smaller body felt softer than she imagined. Different from Toph's personality, which wasn't exactly 'soft'.

"… That's good, right?"

"Hmm, yeah, I guess." But Katara wasn't there yet, there was much more, she felt it, she knew it.

"It's a start," Toph stated and punched Katara in the shoulder.

"Ow! Toph, was that necessary?" Katara cried out and rubbed softly over the spot on her shoulder where Toph just hit her.

"Yes, it's my way of showing I care. Remember?" Katara saw a grin spread on the girl's face and chuckled. "What's so funny?" she snapped and caused Katara to laugh quietly.

"Nothing Toph. Sorry." It's just so _you_," Katara answered.

"Duh, who else would it be?" Toph said and they both laughed. It made Katara actually feel a bit better, it was nice to talk with someone who actually cared, who was really interested in what she told. It made her feel a bit… important? Somehow.

.

"So, Sugar Queen." Tell me, what about you and Twinkle Toes?" Katara turned her head to look at Toph with a raised eyebrow, which Toph wouldn't see of course.

"Err, what do you mean Toph?" Katara asked, confused, she wasn't sure what Toph meant.

"Oh, please. Don't tell me that you haven't figured it out yet, Twinkle Toes is all in to you, obviously," Toph answered. Anxious of Katara's answer, but she couldn't let Katara notice that. "If you haven't noticed, I'm starting to have doubts about me being the blind one." Katara stared at her friend, amazed. Aang liked her…? No, it couldn't be, he was just a friend!

"Nah, he's just a friend Toph."

"You sure about that, Katara? Because he thinks differently about that, I can tell." That was just about obvious.

"Yes, I'm sure. What're you trying to say Toph? Just tell me already, quit with the riddles," Katara said and sighed, a little annoyed. If Toph could sense when somebody was lying, she should be able to tell that Katara was in fact being honest right now. She was confused about what she felt, but that was one thing she was very certain of.

"You don't see him as anything more than '_just a friend_'?" Toph asked, arms crossed. But Katara missed the smile on Toph's face, which was there only a split second and so Katara nodded.

"That's right, Toph. Aang's just a friend, nothing more than that."

"Poor Twinkle Toes…" Toph responded, a smirk growing on her face.

"Well, I can't help how I feel. I won't like telling him that, but I'll have to. I won't give him false hope, that'd be unfair."

"You're right, and even though I barely say so, you're right pretty often," Toph blurted out before she could stop herself. Katara was kinda shocked by that, was Toph really admitting that? That wasn't really _her_, not as Katara knew her at least.

"Wow, Toph… Thanks…" she whispered and played with a few strands of her hair.

"I'm sorry for the nasty comments I've made in the past, Sugar Queen. It's just, that's how I learned to defend myself. People always think I'm tiny and weak, but I'm not. I'm capable of taking care of myself, even though I'm blind."

"Well, if it helps, I don't think you're weak. And I _know _you're capable of taking care of yourself."

"Thanks," Toph whispered and smiled, it meant a lot that Katara said that.


	2. Chapter 2

Second chapter of **_Revelations_**! ;D I have a (new) beta, but she has finals this week, so won't be able to beta until after that. So my apologies for little mistakes, those will be taken out soon!  
Also, thank you very much for the reviews, please _do _keep sending them, I'd love to know what you think of it, what you like and don't like.

Enjoy! c:

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Her eyes turned upwards, towards the almost full moon, her milky mint-colored eyes wouldn't be able to see it, so Katara was wondering why she did that.

"It's almost full moon," Katara stated while she looked in the same direction as Toph did.

"I've always wondered what the moon looked like," Toph said in a whisper and made Katara think. How could she explain what the moon looked like to Toph? It was a big white circle, but that probably wouldn't mean anything to Toph.

"Hmm, how can I explain…?" Katara thought out loud when suddenly she got an idea. "I know!" she said in a louder tone than normally.

"You do? But how?" Seriously Sugar Queen, you deserve an award if you _can_, but I doubt it."

"Thanks for the trust, Toph."

"You're welcome," Toph said with an innocent smile and Katara rolled with her eyes, typically Toph.

"Okay, I'll come sit behind you and I'll show you," Katara said, not responding to Toph's earlier comment. She scooted up and sat behind Toph, laying her legs next to Tops and taking Toph's hands in her own. She rested her head on Toph's right shoulder when Toph suddenly turned her head around.

"What are you _doing_?!" Toph snapped in reaction, she wasn't expecting the sudden touch of their skin and batted Katara's hands away from hers.

"Ow, Toph! Like I said, I'll show you, if you _let _me!"

"Hmph. Okay." Toph cursed at herself, she had to get herself together. _"Focus, Toph!"_

"Or not. Your pick, Sourpuss."

"Don't call me that!" Toph snapped and glared in Katara's direction.

"You call me 'Sugar Queen' all the time, so we're even."

"Yeah, whatever. Just show me already!"

"Calm down, lady. Patience," Katara said and took Toph's hands in her own again.

"Okay, you can earth bend, so you'll have to work with me so I can actually try to explain and show you what it looks like." Toph nodded slowly and let Katara move her hands in the air, as Katara cupped her hands, hers automatically did, too. Katara's hands were soft and very gentle, as if she were afraid Toph's were made of porcelain and would break. Toph also noticed that Katara's hands were warm, even though it wasn't warm at all and there was a constant cool breeze. Toph shook her head lightly, bringing herself back to focus on the movement of Katara's hands.

They moved down slowly, but a bit to the side and down more, Toph noticed that it must be a round shape.

"Oh, that's easy!" Toph said with a grin and put her hands on each other, space between them and moved them a bit upward.

"Can you try to smooth the rough edges?"

"No problem," Toph answered and moved her hands the way Katara's had a few seconds ago. Katara looked at the earth being molded into a round shape; it would probably work, to her surprise, because she hadn't been too sure that it would.

"Yes, now create some… How should I explain?" Katara thought out loud how could she explain what craters looked like in a way Toph could bend the ball of earth she had between her hands.

"Just put your hands on mine again and move my fingers the way I should bend, that could work," Toph suggested and Katara nodded.

"Good idea," Katara agreed and put her hands on Toph's again. She lightly pushed down Toph's right thumb, middle finger and pink and her left index and ring finger. Again, the movements of Katara's fingers were very gentle, Toph noticed.

The result was pleasing. it really looked very much like a full moon. "I think it's finished," Katara said as she examined the earth-shaped moon-figure.

"But it's so small?" Katara chuckled and Toph turned her head, raising an eyebrow. Not understanding what was so funny.

"Yeah, it would take probably months to create a true-sized one. The moon is about one-third of the earth's size."

"It's a… planet?"

"Hmm, you could say that, yeah, it's very far away. So we actually made an earth-shaped moon in the size as we see it here on earth," Katara explained.

"Oh," Toph whispered as she ran her fingers over the ball of earth in her hands."But how does it look like?"

"It's white, but I can't really explain the color white… I wish I could, the only think I know how to explain it as, it that's it pale, extremely pale."

"Thanks Katara, you put so much effort in trying to explain. Not many people have done that for me; mostly they grow impatient and give up…" Katara looked at her friend and thought she saw Toph's eyes get watery, but maybe it was just the moonshine. She let out a breath and put her arms around the blind earth bender's torso, pressing hers against Toph's back. Toph felt Katara's chest pressing against her back, Katara's body heat radiated through her clothes on Toph's back and made a shiver go through the blind girl's spine. Toph felt how her back started to warm up slowly, it felt rather nice, since it was actually pretty cool.

"You're welcome, Toph, I'm glad I've helped you," Katara responded and closed her eyes while hugging the girl in front of her. Toph sighed, enjoying the warmth of the water bender against her back.

.

"Katara, can I ask you something?" Toph asked carefully while playing with the earth-shaped moon in her hands, she was kinda nervous, but she decided to do it. Katara raised her head a bit so she could speak.

"Sure Toph, what is it?" she answered calmly.

"Since we're both girls and all, I thought it'd be safe to ask you… What's it like to…? You know, kiss someone?" Toph asked in a voice that wasn't much louder than a whisper, she felt blood rushing to her cheeks, causing them to get a few shades darker than her skin color. Katara was a bit startled by Toph's question-she didn't expect this kind of question from the girl. She knew Toph as a rather tough girl, or at least that's how she acted most of the time. Tough was bold and rather boy-like. She hadn't seen this side of her friend before.

"Err, well… It's nice and err…" she wasn't so good at explaining things like this, she knew what it was like, but how to explain to someone else, that wasn't so easy as she wished it was. "It gives you a nice and warm feeling, if you really like the person you're kissing, that is. It can cause a tickly feeling in your stomach and… Yeah, that's pretty much it…" Katara stumbled. She really wasn't good at this, a sigh slipped through her lips and she leaned back, creating space between her and the earth bender.

"What is it? You don't sound very convincing, to be honest."

"I know, sorry, but I'm no good at this, I don't know how to explain. I know what it's like, I know exactly how it feels and all, but to explain it… That's quite difficult…" she admitted. She felt how her cheeks colored a deep pink, and she turned away her head. But then remembered that it wouldn't matter, since Toph wouldn't be able to see it anyway. What she didn't see because of that was that Toph's cheeks colored a darker pink as well.

"Is it making you uncomfortable?" Toph asked carefully, but calm. Katara was unaware of the fact that she was holding her breath, until she tried to answer.

"N—No. no. It's just hard to explain, that's a—"

"Wake up Sugar Queen, you know I can tell when you're telling the truth," Toph said, a little smug. Katara sighed and felt the urge to slap herself. How could she forget about that?

"I _am_ tell—"

"No, you're not."

"Okay, it is. Happy now?"

"Happy, no. That's not exactly how I'd call it, but I can handle it. But seriously, why is it making you uncomfortable? Is it weird to ask?" Katara had to think before she responded, it wasn't weird to ask, so indeed, why was it making her so uncomfortable? Toph waited for Katara to respond, wondering if she should've asked Katara the question in the first place.

"I don't kno—"

"Wrong," Toph said after making a disagreeing sound. "Have you ever even kissed someone?" she then asked the water bender, who shifted into a defensive position with her body.

"_Yes I have!_" she snapped, crossed her arms and moved away from Toph. How did she dare? Of course Katara had kissed somebody before, she was almost fifteen.

"You're way too easy, Sugar Queen," Toph said and chuckled. Although, it sounded a bit like a nervous chuckle to Katara. "But well, I haven't. Are we even again now?" Katara turned around again to see Toph's face. she wasn't smiling, rather looking sad.

"You've never kissed before?"

"Wasn't that what I just said? Do you think I'm lying here?!"

"No, no, that's not how I meant it! It's just hard to imagine, since you're really pretty and all, I thought you've kissed before," Katara said, trying to calm Toph down, she didn't want to argue with her. Not again.

"If I had, why would I ask what it's like?" Katara was stunned at her own stupidity, her head was playing games, at least that's what it felt and looked like to the water bender.

"Right. Sorry, my head's really not working the way it should…"

.

Katara sighed and let herself fall backwards and rested on the soft earth. She vaguely noticed how Toph did the same. she sensed Toph's body close to hers and turned her head, towards Toph's face. She was closer than Katara first thought Toph was, the earth bender turned her head as well, looking straight into Katara's eyes. Katara gasped quietly, but didn't move, there was nothing to be afraid of, it was just Toph. She couldn't see Katara, although her eyes stared into Katara's as if Toph was trying to say something without words. Toph's eyes were a milky mint-color, but clear as crystals and somehow a little intriguing, Katara couldn't make herself look away.

"Your eyes are actually really pretty, you know," Katara said in a whisper.

"No, since I can't see them, I don't know," Toph whispered back and stuck out her tongue to Katara, "But thanks for the compliment."

"That wasn't how I meant it and you know that, Toph."

"I know, but it's funny though."

"Glad you think so."

"Wish I could say the same, but I have no idea what you look like, not even mentioning your eyes," Toph sighed. These were the moments where she really disliked being blind, the small things.

"Would you want to know what I look like? I mean—"

"I know what you mean and well… I have only '_seen'_ people who are very close to me, like my parents and a few servants from back home. It's not as if I can go ahead and ask everyone if I can '_see'_ what they look like, it'd cause awkward moments, so I rarely ask to," Toph interrupted Katara, explaining. Katara hummed, as sign that she understood.

"Well, if it helps you, I'll offer it myself, and you can 'see' what I look like, if you want to. I know _I'd_ want to if I were in your situation. So…" Katara offered. She gently took Toph's hand with hers and brought it to her cheek and laid down Toph's hand there. Toph's body froze for a second or two, but told herself to relax and let Katara lead her hand to Katara's face. She felt how Katara put her hand on Katara's cheek, which was warm. Katara's hand left Toph's and let Toph touch her face so Toph could 'see' what she looks like. Top's hand was pretty soft, even though there was a little callus on her fingertips, she was being very gentle.

Toph moved her fingers slowly over Katara's face, carefully. Moving from her one cheek, over Katara's chin, to the other cheek. Then Toph's finger moved up, towards Katara's temple and forehead. While Toph was moving her fingers over Katara's face, Katara tried to keep her breath even, which wasn't exactly easy, she had no idea why, but she knew it was harder than she imagined. She felt how Toph's fingers traced between her eyebrows, over the bridge of her nose, followed by her eyelids which were closed now. The gentle touch moved to the tip of her nose and came to her upper lip; Katara felt how her heart-rate sped up suddenly. This was something that Toph didn't miss, but she didn't make a comment about it, although it was kind of funny. Katara's lips started to tingle a little as Toph's fingers traced them slowly, upper lip and then the little fuller, lower lip.

Katara opened her eyes again, expecting Toph to remove her hand, but Toph didn't. Apparently she wasn't finished yet, because her hand moved to the side, over Katara's cheek to her ear shell. Katara held her breath and felt her body freeze, hoping Toph wouldn't, but it was inevitable. Before she knew it, she felt Toph's fingertips on her right ear shell, since she was lying on top of the other one. A shiver went through her body, Katara repeated the same line in her head over and over, "_Keep it in, Katara. Keep it in…" _She pressed her lips together, trying to not let the sounds slip outside. She felt her ear tingle and she started to get warm all over, she couldn't help it, she had absolutely no control over this.

"What's wrong? Am I not allowed to touch you there? Your heart's racing, like really fast…" Toph asked in a whisper and held her hand still, not even an inch above Katara's ear.

"No, no… It's… It's okay…" Katara stuttered. It wasn't so much that Toph wasn't allowed to touch her there, but it was a very sensitive spot. Normally she didn't let anyone touch her ears, but she promised Toph that she could 'see' her, which included her ears.

"You sure?" Toph asked Katara, she wasn't too convinced that it was okay for her to touch Katara's ear and she didn't want to 'hurt' her friend in any way. She felt Katara nod under the touch of her hand, so she carefully continued. She made sure to touch Katara's ear very carefully and gentle, but she couldn't know that it would make it only worse. Katara was internally fighting the urge to let the sounds get out of her, Toph's light touch made it only harder. Up until the point where Katara lost control for a split second and immediately hated herself for it.

A sound came from Katara's mouth, it sounded like a… A suppressed moan? Toph raised her eyebrows in surprise and chuckled.

"What's wrong Sweetness? Was _that_ it?" Toph couldn't help laughing, she didn't mean it in a bad way though, and it just sounded weird, in a funny way.

"Shut up, Toph!" Katara hissed and batted away Toph's hand, feeling a little offended by Toph's comment. She was trying to help the blind girl and _this_ was her 'thank you'?! That was exactly the reason why Katara let nobody ever touch her ears, it was embarrassing. Katara turned her back towards Toph by rolling on to her other side, out of nowhere tears welled up in her eyes. It was all just a little bit too much, she had no idea what was happening to her and it was frightening.

Toph was surprised to feel the ground next to her buzz a little, she couldn't make anything of it, but when she heard soft sobs she understood that Katara must be crying. This wasn't her intention at all and she sighed at herself. _"Way to go, Toph."_ She wasn't very good at these things, even when she tried to be subtle; she was being blunt, even though it was unintentionally.

"Why are you crying?" Toph really wasn't good at this and right now she really disliked herself for it. She stretched out her arm and searched for Katara's shoulder, she obviously had moved away from Toph. When Toph found Katara, she put her hand on Katara's shoulder. "Katar—"

"Back off!" Katara hissed and wanted to bat away Toph's hand, but Toph grabbed her by the wrist instead.

"No, I won't back off. Listen Sugar Queen, I know that I'm not good at this and well, I could say I'm sorry, but I can't help it. I'm _trying_ to help and if you'd know me by now, you know that things just come out of my mouth bluntly, even when I don't mean to. So no, I'm not backing off!" Toph said, speaking pretty loudly. Toph couldn't stop the words flooding out of her mouth, even though she tried.

Katara turned around and put her hand over Toph's mouth to shut her up.

"Okay, fine. But can you at least try to be quiet?! Don't yell, or you'll wake up the boys."

"Oh please, Sweetness. They're way too far to hear us, even if we _were_ yelling, plus, I'd know if they'd be coming this way," Toph spoke, even though Katara's hand still covered her mouth.

"But still, just keep it down okay?" Toph didn't mind the touch of Katara's hand so much, but she did like to be able to breathe normally, so she thought of a way to get Katara to move her hand away herself. Toph nodded and licked Katara's hand when she still hadn't removed it.

"Hey!"

"What did you just say? That I had to keep it down…?" Toph said with a smirk and Katara sighed.

"Well, you licked my hand."

"So? You didn't pull it away, so I made you," Toph said, still wearing the smirk.


	3. Chapter 3

A new chapter, the third, to _**Revelations**_! The chapters are all updated now and I replaced them with the beta'd version; thanks to the amazing _FullMetalPrincess_ for beta'ing _**Revelations**_! c:

Please **_do _**let me know what you think by leaving a review! c: Thank you to everyone who left a review behind on the previous chapters!

Enjoy! c:

* * *

"Sshh," Toph warned and put a hand over Katara's mouth. She focused on the sounds she just heard, they were pretty far away, but she wanted to make sure it was nothing dangerous. Katara wanted to sit up, but Toph held her down with the hand that first covered Katara's mouth. Toph heard… It sounded like buzzing, but at the same time it sounded like whooshing.

"What is it, Toph?" Katara asked in a whisper, looking for something, or someone, around. But she didn't see anything, nor anyone, so she was curious what Toph would be hearing or feeling, because Katara didn't.

"It's, I don't know, I'm not sure…" Toph answered, but when she did, the sounds disappeared. She cocked her head to the side, getting confused. "It's… gone?"

"Do you know what it wa—"

"Shh, it's back again!" Toph focused and suddenly figured what the sounds were from. "Don't worry, it's just Momo," Toph said with a smile, not much later Katara saw Momo flying through the air, towards them. They both sighed, relieved that it was just Momo.

"Hey Momo," Katara greeted the lemur, sat up and spread out her arm for Momo to land on. Toph sat up now too, scratching Momo behind the ears.

"Hey Toph, I'm sorry for earlier… I really have no idea what on earth is going on with me…" Katara apologized herself and sighed.

"Puberty?" Toph answered chuckling, Katara couldn't help laughing either.

"Maybe that's it!" Momo looked at the girls, cocking his little head with the big ears, not understanding anything the girls said, nor what they were laughing about.

"Momo, were you looking for us? We're okay though, as you can see. Just don't wake up the boys, okay? Twinkle Toes will probably get a heart-attack if he sees that Sugar Queen here and me are gone, as for Sokka… He probably won't feed you if you wake him," Toph told the lemur.

"That's not a 'probably', that's a 'certainly'. Sokka and early mornings are an almost deadly combination," Katara laughed, Toph couldn't help laughing as well. Momo blinked his eyes a few times in confusion, having no idea what the two humans were saying. He shut his eyes and draped himself on Katara's shoulders to continue to sleep.

"Oh wow, it almost dawn already…" Katara said in surprise, discovering she had completely lost track of time.

"Well, the boys won't be awake for a while anyway. Maybe you should try to get some sleep?"

"Hmm, I could try…" Katara yawned quietly and apologized, a little embarrassed.

"Sweetness, are you _really _apologizing for yawning? Please, it's me you're next to. But seriously, let's lie down and try to sleep some more, I have the strong idea that you could really use it," Toph encouraged Katara, put her back against the tree trunk behind them and patted on her lap. "Here, put your head down for a while. If anyone's coming or anything, I'll wake you." Katara smiled gratefully and put head down on Toph's lap and sighed.

"Thanks Toph, honestly—"

"So sleep already, Sugar Queen," Toph interrupted the water bender and chuckled. It didn't take very long before the Southern water bender _did_ fall asleep with Momo now on Toph's shoulder.

Toph laid her hand on Katara's hair and softly combed her fingers through it, closing her eyes to get some rest herself. She didn't sleep though, she'd promised Katara to keep watch and she'd sleep later. Even though she had been awake for a few hours now, too. She had made sure nobody noticed, but she was already awake when she heard Katara leave the camp. She couldn't help herself and go after her friend. she cared about her, even though she wouldn't admit that out loud, she did care about Katara. Maybe even more than she wanted to…

.

Toph's eyes fluttered when she felt vibes in the ground coming from far away, she focused right away and concentrated. She recognized the vibes in the earth and smiled, Aang has woken up. She suddenly noticed that Momo was gone, too. He must've gone back to the camp to get Aang; the vibes told her that there wasn't anything abnormal about the vibes, so it'd be okay. The blind girl shook the water bender's shoulder softly in attempt to wake her up, as she had promised.

"Hey Sugar Queen, Twinkle Toes is on his way, wake up," Toph whispered, but there came no reaction from the girl who rested her head on Toph's lap. Toph sighed, she didn't want this to be necessary, but she didn't have much of a choice.

"Wake up!" Toph said loudly, shaking her friend's shoulder more roughly.

"Huh?! What?! Where are w—"

"Easy mermaid, we're at the lake. I tried to wake you more… subtly, but you didn't respond to that, so had to be rough. sorry. But Twinkle Toes is on his way, I think Momo went to get him, since he's gone," Toph explained and heard Katara yawn. "Had a nice beauty sleep?" she teased and stuck out her tongue.

"Actually, I did, I haven't slept that well in a long time. Thanks again, Toph," Katara thanked the earth bender and carefully sat up, stretched out her arms and yawned again, soundlessly this time. Or well, _almost_ soundless, because at the end a moan-sound escaped through her lips.

"I can hear that," Toph laughed and stood up, stretching out herself. She hadn't noticed until now that her upper legs tingled from the sudden removal of weight, where Katara's head had been resting. She was glad that Katara had gotten some sleep, she did sound better now, too.

"Katara, Toph! There you are!" Aang said, relieved. "You two are up early, mostly I'm the one awake first, but you two beat me this time," he said and grinned.

"Oh, I've beaten you many times on several things, Twinkle Toes," Toph reminded him with a smirk and Aang groaned.

"Yeah, Toph, I know."

"Now, now, let's not go competing in the early morning already. We haven't even had breakfast yet," Katara said and stood in between the air- and earth bender.

"Now you mention that, I'm _starving!_" Toph said, putting her hands on her rumbling stomach. Katara laughed and so did Aang.

"Well, then let's go back to camp and get our stomachs filled!" Katara said and took Toph's hand as she started running towards the camp, taking Toph with her. Aang was already on his glider, with Momo next to him.

"I bet I'll be there _before _you are even _close_!" he shouted with a smug grin on his face.

"Oh, we'll see about _that_, Twinkle Toes," Toph murmured so only Katara could hear and smirked. Katara's stared at Toph with big eyes, this could mean only _one _thing; it'd be a rough 'ride' back to the camp.

Toph let Katara's hand go and created a wave of boulders beneath them, they would be 'earth surfing' to the camp. Katara gasped and grabbed the earth bender by the waist, tightly.

"What's up Sugar Queen? Don't trust me?" Toph shouted over her shoulder with a grin, to make sure Katara would hear her through the noise of the moving boulders underneath them. Katara laughed nervously.

"I… I think I do…" she answered honestly, she _had _to, because Toph was one of the greatest earth benders. But she couldn't help being a little afraid, since they were moving very fast and there were trees all around them.

"Still not going to win it from me!" the Avatar triumphantly shouted from the air.

"You haven't won yet, Twinkle Toes!" Toph shouted back and made several movements with her feet and hands. The earth- and water bender shot forward and left Aang behind them, in the air. Before Katara could shriek, she saw the camp in front of them. The view of Appa and the campfire that had died out became closer and closer with the second, until Katara and Toph came to a halt and got launched through the air. Toph held Katara tightly as she made a pillar of earth rise from the ground that caught the two girls and dropped to the ground again, slowly.

"Hey Twinkle Toes! What did you just say? Because I didn't hear you, since you were so far behind us!" Toph shouted, a smirk spread from ear to ear. Toph put Katara down and smiled at the water bender. "You okay?" she asked and Katara nodded, relieved to be on her own two feet again.

.

"What the…?!" Sokka yelled as he wrestled himself out of his sleeping bag, grabbing his boomerang to face whatever got to the camp. "Oh, it's you guys. You were gone?"

"Well, a good morning to you too, Captain Obvious," Toph responded and dropped herself to the ground.

"Is breakfast ready yet?" Sokka asked yawning.

"Oh Sokka, you're so predictable," Katara sighed and shook her head. Her brother would either be busy eating or sleeping, and if he wasn't doing any of those two, he'd probably be talking about how he wanted food or sleep.

"Since I lost from you girls, I decided I'd take care of the ingredients for breakfast," Aang said as he pulled his shirt down that was filled with berries, some mushroom-ish things and fruit.

"Wow, that's actually quite a lot, Aang!" Katara said in surprise as she looked at the berries. Sokka grabbed a few and threw them in his mouth, impatient as always.

"_NO!_ Sokka, spit those out!" Katara shrieked, panicked.

"Why? Sowwy, I'm weally hungwy—" Sokka protested.

"Because those berries are poisonous!" Katara hissed at him and Sokka spit them all out at once. He grabbed the water pouch for water, gurgled and spit out the water.

"Couldn't you warn me _before _I put them in my mouth?!" he said annoyed, still spitting out remains of the berries.

"No, you idiot. Because you already put them in your big mouth when your sister was examining them, your stomach really _is _bigger than your brain," Toph sighed at Sokka.

"_Idiot?! Listen, you little—_"

"Sokka, cut it out. She's right, you know. You should really blame yourself. you're too impatient to wait for me to actually get breakfast ready."

"Katara, stop that, I'm older than you and—"

"Oh, so you're making your own breakfast?"

"I didn't say tha—"

"That's what I thought. Now make yourself useful and go fill the water pouch and get washed up. Aang, could you find us some new wood to get the fire started? Toph, could you please help by getting the bread we bought yesterday from Appa's saddle?" Everyone nodded and got on their way, Sokka mumbled complaints while taking off towards the lake.

.

"Hey Sugar Queen, what bread? Because I can't find it!" Toph shouted from behind Appa. Katara looked up, surprised, she was absolutely sure she had put the bread there. She walked towards Toph and smiled when she saw the earth bender looking in the wrong bag, the bag with Appa's hay.

"It's in _this _one," Katara told Toph, putting the _right_ bag in Toph's arms.

"Oops, sorry," Toph apologized and walked back. Katara grabbed hay from the other bag and fed Appa.

"Good morning, Appa," she greeted the flying bison as she patted his head. A low roar came from its big mouth before he swallowed the hay that Katara gave him. "Are you ready for today?" Another roar came from the giant beast and Katara smiled as she walked towards her friend to get breakfast ready.

"Thanks, Katara. It was delicious!" Aang said as soon as he finished his breakfast.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Aang. But we need to do some groceries again today, though. We're out of bread, we've got no vegetables anymore and the same goes for the meat."

"Bwut Aang doesn't ewen eat mweat," Sokka said, his mouth stuffed with food.

"Sokka, you're a _guy_, you _can't _do two things at the same time. So stop trying already," Toph said with a sigh, annoyed. Katara laughed and got a murderous look from her brother, which she ignored.

.

"Hey guys, I think we should leave in not too long. If we want to get to Ba Sing Se within two days, we should really get moving, unless you wish to get there after sundown…" Aang said and Katara nodded.

"You're right Aang, we should get going. If everybody helps to pack up the camp, we'll be able to take off in thirty minutes or so," Katara said and walked towards their tent to roll up the sleeping bags.

"I'm done already!" Toph said triumphantly while she put her arms behind her head and leaned back against Appa's body.

"Your tent's still—" Katara didn't get to finish her sentence as a loud thud sounded, Toph's 'tent' disappeared into the ground. Katara sighed and shook her head, sometimes she got fed up with the earth bender's lazy attitude.

"My tent's still what, Sugar Queen?" Toph asked smugly.

"Never mind, Toph. I guess it'd be too much asked for you to help us with packing so we're finished quicker?" Katara snapped while tying the sleeping bags together with thread.

"I packed all _my _stuff, why should I help _you_ packing _your_ stuff?"

"Because we're here all _together_, Toph. Normally friends _help _each other, which includes packing."

"I didn't ask you to help _me _packing, either." Toph sneered at the water bender, she didn't like how she talked the way she spoke to the water bender, but she couldn't appreciate the way her friend spoke to her either.

"Girls, let's not fight, okay? We've got a whole day ahead and Katara, we're almost done packing already. I'll get everything in Appa's saddle and then we're ready to leave, okay?" Aang said, trying to avoid the girls getting into a fight again.

"Fine," Katara snapped and threw the sleeping bags in Sokka's direction, who was standing next to Appa. He caught the sleeping bags in his stomach and groaned. This wasn't going to be his day today…

"Fine," Toph murmured and Aang jumped up to land on Appa's saddle and caught the sleeping bags from Sokka. He sighed and looked from Katara to Toph and back, wondering if they'd ever be able to get through a day _without_ arguing or fighting.


	4. Chapter 4

A new, the fourth, chapter of **_Revelations_**! Again thanks to _FullMetalPrincess_ for beta'ing! c: Today (May 20st) it's my birthday, so I decided to treat you on another chapter, even though the last one didn't get many reviews; please leave a review? I would really like to know what you think of it; what you like or don't like so much, anything!

Anyway; here is the fourth chapter;  
Enjoy! c:

* * *

Toph closed her eyes and rested her chin on her crossed arms that were on the edge of Appa's saddle, the warm air rushing by caressed the skin of her face. She couldn't 'see' anything, she hated not being able to pinpoint where exactly they were. The only thing she could do was try to hear or smell anything that would maybe tell her something about their current location. A sigh slipped through her parted lips, a moment or two later she felt a hand on her shoulder; Katara.

"What is it, Sugar Queen? Am I being too lazy again?" Toph snapped and froze, that wasn't supposed to get out of her mouth. But instead of getting a sneer back, Katara chuckled under her breath, softly.

"No, you aren't. In fact, you look a little tense to me, is everything alright?" Katara asked calmly as she sat down beside the earth bender. Toph looked up, directly into Katara's eyes.

"How do you—?" Toph mumbled and shook her head. "No. I mean, yes, I'm perfectly fine."

"Are you really sure about that, because I'm not…" Katara spoke softly and glanced over her shoulder to see Sokka and Aang discussing something with a lot of arm-, and hand gestures on Appa's shoulders.

"Ye—"

"Toph, I may not be as gifted as you are, but I can also tell right now that you're not telling the truth." Toph was taken aback, this girl was learning fast, but she wasn't sure if she liked that or not. The blind girl sighed again and slumped her shoulders, she wasn't being honest, _and that _was true. But she knew she couldn't tell the truth either, not the _whole _truth at least.

"Okay, you're right. Satisfied?"

"No, but if you don't want to talk about it, just tell me. But don't pretend there isn't anything going on, because I can tell there is," Katara's voice was very calm and soothing. She wasn't pushing Toph to tell anything she didn't want to, but instead just offered her help and support if Toph _did_ want to tell. That gave Toph a very pleasant feeling, someone cared about her, enough to leave it up to herself. It made Toph trust Katara a little more than she already did.

"Thank you, Katara," Toph whispered, head bowed down. She was so caught up in her thoughts that Toph didn't even noticed Katara moving, without a warning she felt Katara's arms around her, hugging the blind earth bender. It took Toph by surprise and caused her to freeze, but quickly she relaxed again and let Katara hug her. She buried her head in the water bender's hair that hung loosely over her shoulders, on her chest. Katara looked up, a little surprised, but then smiled and caressed Toph's hair slowly, soothing. Whatever it was that the blind girl didn't want to tell her, yet, it wasn't just something. Katara could tell by the way the earth bender suddenly clung to her, she noticed soft sobs from Toph, but didn't mention it. Instead Katara just continued to hold her friend and caressing her black hair.

"Hey sis, tell Aang that I'm right. He doesn't want to admit tha—" Sokka got cut off by his sister.

"Shh, not now Sokka. There's more important stuff right now for me to focus on," Katara said and saw her brother looking at her and Toph, raising an eyebrow.

"One second they're about to get into a catfight, the next they're best friends forever. Girls are _weird_," Sokka said to Aang who laughed and just shrugged his shoulders. He was happy already that the two girls seemed to have made up again and weren't fighting or arguing any

"Just leave them for a while, Sokka. I'm sure they'll appreciate some privacy right now," Aang said and turned around again to make Appa turn slightly to the left before going straight forward again. The way the two girls were sitting together told Aang that there was something going on with his earth bending Master that was for now only trusted to Katara.

"Thanks, Aang," Katara whispered softly as she glanced towards the Avatar. He had his wise moments, even though he was only twelve, he was the Avatar after all.

.

Katara looked down at the blind girl's face that was half buried in her hair, shoulders quivering, soft sobs muffled by the earthbender's fists that she held in front of her mouth, clutching Katara's clothing. Katara just kept caressing Toph's hair and back, hoping to give her friend a feeling of safety and comfort. It hurt the waterbender to see her friend like this, wishing she could do something to make Toph feel better, somehow. She rested her cheek on top of Toph's head as she continued trying to comfort her friend.

_"Oh Spirits, I wish I could do something,"_ Katara thought to herself and sighed. She wanted to help her friend more than herself, she wasn't so important. She herself would come later, as long as she could make Toph feel better, because this was, to Katara, more painful to watch than her own confusion and problems. If she could help her friend not feeling sad anymore, or whatever it was her friend was feeling right now, she'd be happy, satisfied. Katara had always cared more for others than for herself, just like her mother who was _'taken_' by the Fire Nation. Katara looked a lot like her mother, more than she knew herself.

Katara looked at Toph in surprise, her friend wasn't sobbing anymore and her grip on Katara's clothes had loosened, her breathing was steady and even. Toph had fallen asleep, face still half buried in Katara's hair against her chest. Katara's lips curled up slightly into a smile, her friend must've been _really_ exhausted, she didn't blame her. Especially after last night, all the hours they'd been at the small lake, talking. Toph's chest was rising and falling lightly, the even rhythm of Toph's breathing put Katara even more at ease. Without taking notice, Katara was slowly drifting away into sleep as well, still holding the earthbender in her arms, her head still resting on Toph's.

.

Katara's eyelids fluttered while she started to wake up from her sleep, a yawn escaped her mouth and she stretched out her arms and upper body. She blinked a few times to clear her sight and looked down, Toph's eyelids fluttered too and the earthbender stretched herself out as well while yawning. She looked confused at the warmth she felt against her skin and poked out in front of her, touching Katara's side. Toph cocked her head, confused.

Had she fallen asleep in the waterbender's arms…?

"Good afternoon, Toph," Katara said with a smile and brushed her hair back, over her shoulders so it fell on her back like a curtain.

"Mornin'," Toph replied and another yawn followed. She felt as if she slept for two whole days, she was well rested but not really awake yet. As she allowed her mind to start up slowly, she found memories of earlier. She'd been sobbing in Katara's hair, while being held in an embrace by the waterbender. Blood flushed her cheeks which colored them a deep pink; she'd been sleeping in Katara's embrace…

"Slept well?" Katara asked in a soft voice and Toph nodded.

"Yeah, you?"

"Me too," Katara answered and looked over her shoulder, instantly alarmed when she didn't see Aang nor Sokka. Momo wasn't anywhere to be found either. It was just her, Toph and Appa.

"What is it?" Toph asked, slowly standing up to stretch out her entire body now, looking at Katara, waiting for an answer.

"The boys, they're gone…" Katara said in a soft, but slightly panicked voice.

"Now you say so, I can't feel them anywhere near, either…" Toph whispered, she'd jumped off of Appa's saddle and was now crouched on the ground, her right foot, left foot and knee and her right hand touching the rocky earth. Panic flooded Katara's body, she wanted to yell the boys' names, but if Toph said they weren't anywhere near, it'd be useless anyway.

"Appa, where's Aang? Where're Sokka and Momo?" Katara asked as she crawled onto the giant flying bison's head. Appa's answer was a soft roar, not really helpful, but what did she expect? Suddenly, a piece of paper around one of Appa's horns caught her attention. Katara carefully climbed down and loosened the cord around Appa's horn and enfolded the piece of paper.

"Toph, look, they left a note." Toph coughed and Katara looked up to her friend.

"Can't read, I'm _blind_, remember?" Toph replied as she walked towards Katara, who smashed her hand into her forehead. Of course, how could she forget that?

"Right, sorry… I'll read it out loud, it says: _'Hey Katara and Toph, don't worry about us. We're just in the city nearby to get us some food and drinks. we're also trying to find out if we can find a place to stay. We'll be back before sundown. – Aang, Sokka & Momo'_"

"I thought Twinkle Toes was worried about getting to Ba Sing Se before the end of the week, and now he's _'trying to find a place to stay'_?" Toph noted, confused, one eyebrow raised. Katara shrugged her shoulders, Toph was right, it was odd that Aang would be looking for a place to stay, while this morning he'd shared his worries about getting to Ba Sing Se in time. Something wasn't right…

"Earth to Katara!" Toph said in a load voice, waving her hand in front of Katara's face.  
"Huh? Oh, sorry Toph, I was just lost in my train of thought…"

"Well, let me join that ride. What were you thinking about?"

"It doesn't… Something feels _off_, it's just too weird and nothing like Aang to change his mind so suddenly…"

"Maybe your idiot brother convinced Aang—"

"No, Sokka can be good in putting and holding his foot down, but can't beat Aang in that. Aang's smarter than that, he'd weigh all the pros and cons in his head at least ten times before he changes his mind," Katara said and laughed, Toph chuckled at Katara's comment on the Avatar, but Katara _was _right.

"Hmm, so what are the possibilities, you think?" she asked the waterbender and sat down on a platform of earth she bent up from the ground. Katara sat down next to her, holding her chin in the palm of her hand.

The truth was Katara had absolutely no idea. It was weird, _really_ weird. It was definitely Aang's handwriting, Katara was extremely certain of that, but the message wasn't like Aang. She looked at the earthbender beside her and took a deep breath, then opened her mouth to reply.

"You have no idea, do you?" It wasn't exactly a question, rather a statement. Katara sighed and shook her head.

"Honestly, no. It's Aang's handwriting, without a doubt. But the message, it isn't like Aang…"

"Should we go look for them, or should we wait here?" Toph asked and Katara thought for a minute.

"Let's wait for a bit, but if twilight sets in and they're still not back by then, we'll go look for them. Okay?" Toph nodded in agreement. For Toph it wouldn't be a difference anyway, day or night; she saw just as much in broad daylight as in night darkness.

"What shall we do in the meantime?" Toph asked and Katara smiled.

"Let's try to relax a bit, I think we could both use it," Katara answered and Toph looked at her with her head cocked to the side.

"Relax? Okay, but what's your definition of _relaxing_? Because I'm not too sure we have the same ideas about that…"

"Well, you'll see." A smirk appeared on Katara's face as she grabbed Toph's arm and dragged the girl with her. Toph wasn't very fond of surprises, but she couldn't make herself remove Katara's hand from her arm, so she walked along with the Waterbender. She heard some rustling; Katara was grabbing something from a bag on the side of Appa's saddle and continued walking.

"Katara, do you _know_ where we're going?"

"Hmm, sort of—"

"_What? _Sort of? Spirits, we're going to get lost…"

"No, we're not. You're here with me and you could always 'look' for Appa if we would, which won't happen."


	5. Chapter 5

A new chapter, the fifth, to _**Revelations**_! The story has been beta'd now; thanks to the amazing _FullMetalPrincess_ for beta'ing _**Revelations**_! c:

Please **_do _**let me know what you think by leaving a review! c: Thank you to everyone who left a review behind on the previous chapters!

- My apologies for taking a little longer to post this chapter, it's simply because I've been quite busy. May 23rd I went back home from three weeks in Florida, then I was simply busy unpacking and tidying and cleaning my room and get rid of the jet lag (I _hate _jet lags...) After that I was simply caught up by watching FullMetal Alchemist; Brotherhood, so many people and friends on Tumblr recommended it and told me to watch it and suddenly I was kinda addicted... n_n**" **So my apologies for that! But for now:

Enjoy! c:

* * *

After about ten minutes of walking over the rocky earth, Katara stopped and Toph bumped into the waterbender because her thoughts were elsewhere.

"Oomph, sorry," Toph murmured and felt her cheeks get warm, she was blushing. She tried to think of random things so it'd go away, but she couldn't tell if Katara had seen it or not.

"It's okay Toph. Here, put this on," Katara said and handed Toph a bundle that felt as swimwear.

"We're going to _swim_?" Toph's body suddenly filled with anxiety and panic, she couldn't swim…

"Well, not exactly. We're taking a bath, there's a hot spring here, can't you tell by the scent?" Toph concentrated and breathed in through her nose, she now indeed smell a certain scent she couldn't quite describe.

"Is it… _deep_?" Toph asked with an unsteady voice. She felt Katara's arm around her neck and shoulders, comforting.

"Toph, don't worry. I'm right here beside you and I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay? It's not that deep, but I'll make sure to guide you into the water, okay? We'll take it slow and you don't have any reason to be afraid," Katara tried to reassure the earthbender. Toph nodded, still a bit anxious.

She heard how Katara removed her clothes to put on her swimwear and Toph couldn't help the blushing, even though she couldn't see the waterbender, she imagined what Katara would look like. She started to get undressed herself as well, but couldn't figure out how she had to put on the swimsuit Katara had brought for her.

"Err, Katara…?" Katara turned around, already in her swimwear now, to see Toph fumbling with the swimsuit in her hands, cheeks a dark crimson color.

"Oh, of course, let me help," Katara said and got to her friend and took the swimsuit from her, then stood behind the earthbender and held the swimsuit in front of Toph the way she had to put it on. "Now you can put it on, I'm holding it the way you should wear it." Toph waved with her hands in front of her and found Katara's elbows. She followed the waterbender's arms until she found her hands and took the swimsuit from her, and then she quickly put on the swimsuit. Relief washed over her and she let out a breath she didn't even knew she was holding in. Katara had seen her fully naked, that wasn't so bad, but it still made her feel a bit insecure.

"Okay, take my hand now," Katara said in a gentle voice and felt Toph's hand grab hers tightly; Katara smiled and squeezed the earthbender's hand. She would make absolutely sure that her friend would feel safe and at ease with her, even though the earthbender wouldn't be able to 'see' when she was in the water. Katara was determined to let Toph trust her by taking it slow and guiding her friend into the hot spring step by step.

"Is this the edge?" Toph asked, reaching down with the toes of her right foot, there wasn't solid ground under them anymore.

"Yes, you're about to step into the water right now. Go ahead and lean on me, I'll carry you into the water slowly, until you can stand on your own feet, okay?" Katara could clearly see the hesitation in Toph's eyes and whole body, but she was hoping the blind girl would trust her and allow Katara to carry her into the water.

"I don't know… I'm not that light you know, I might be small, but—"

"Toph, I'm sure that I can carry you. Don't worry," Katara interrupted her friend in a soothing voice. Toph couldn't be _that _heavy, besides; she could waterbend if it was necessary.

"I… I trust you, Katara," Toph whispered, but she was honest, she _did_ trust Katara. She took in a deep breath and reached out her arms, she felt how Katara carefully put one arm under Toph's armpits, around her torso. The other waterbender's arm was placed behind Toph's upper legs. Toph got scooped up and rested with almost her whole torso against Katara's, one arm around Katara's neck. Suddenly Toph chuckled and Katara looked up in surprise.

"What's so funny?" Katara asked with a smile and caused Toph to laugh.

"If I'm right, this is the way newlyweds get into their house, isn't it?" Toph replied and Katara laughed now too.

"Yes, it's very common that the husband carries his new wife into their house like this," she answered and blushed a little as an image flashed into her head. She froze for just a second, but the second was long enough for Toph to notice.

"What is it? Is the water not safe?" Toph asked when she felt Katara's body freeze for a short moment and panic crept up again.

"Oh, no! No, sorry. The water is completely safe, I just… Nevermind." Katara said and shook her head lightly, "Okay, I'm going to lower you bit by bit into the water. Just tell me whenever I need to stop and wait for a little while." Toph nodded and laid her other arm around Katara's shoulder as well, linking her own hands and fingers together on the back of Katara's neck.

.

Katara _did _take it slow and was being very gentle, pausing to lower Toph whenever she asked Katara to. Toph was now in the warm water with her entire lower body.

"Okay, you can continue again…" Toph whispered, feeling a little guilty. Katara was being so patient with her, even though Toph really wasn't a lightweight like people always assumed. Katara slowly lowered Toph more and further into the water, it was now up to Toph's navel.

"Toph, I'm going to remove my one arm from under your legs, okay?" Katara said and Toph nodded, tightening her grip on Katara's shoulders and neck. She felt how her legs were released from Katara's grip and she tried to find the bottom of the hot spring with her feet, she started to panic when she didn't.

"Put me down! Put me down!" Toph shrieked in panic, Katara saw the fear in her friend's milky eyes and felt sorry for her.

"Ssh, Toph, calm down! Easy, I will, but you have to calm down. The bottom is just a few inches from your feet; that's it, no need to panic. I'm right here, I've got you, nothing can happen," Katara guided her friend in a soothing voice. Toph managed to keep her body still, even though she couldn't stop the trembling, she didn't want to make it harder on Katara by moving so much. She in- and exhaled slowly and felt her body calm down and _heard_ Katara smile, which caused the earthbender to smile as well.

"Thank you so much, Katara. For being so patient and all…"

"No need to thank me, Toph. Anything to help you," Katara responded and noticed that the words came out the way she tried not to. What was going _on_ with her?

.

Toph was sitting on an underwater earthbended bench, with Katara beside her. It hadn't been easy, but Katara had helped her. The water was pleasantly warm and the earthbender noticed that she really _did _relax, even though she now _was_ blind. She couldn't sense anything, but she had Katara right next to her and she trusted the waterbender.

"This actually _is _very relaxing; I have to admit Katara, good idea!" Toph complimented and Katara smiled gratefully.

"Thanks Toph, that means a lot to me that you say that," Katara thanked the earthbender and put her head back in the water to wet her hair. She pulled her head up again and brushed her hair to one side of her head, it was now resting on her left shoulder and over her collarbone, when she looked at Toph, who was on her right she was surprised at first. Toph was removing her hair band and a few hairpins which caused her hair to fall down from the bun it was first.

"Can you hold these for me please? I don't want to lose them and I wouldn't be able to find them later, you see," Toph asked Katara and handed her hairpins and hair band to the Southern Watertriber. Katara watched Toph, a little fascinated, when she figured that Toph had just asked her something.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, sure Toph," Katara stumbled over her own words and took the hairpins- and band from her friend. She then fastened the hairpins on the hair band and put it around her wrist, tying the ends together into a knot.

"Thanks," Toph said and was lost in her thoughts for a few minutes.

Had Katara really stumbled? Was she just imagining the waterbender to be slightly nervous, or was it really Katara's heartbeat she heard speed up? Toph figured that she probably mistaken it with something else, her 'sight' was so foggy and blurry in the water. But she couldn't help that her thoughts wandered off to Katara.

Katara had never seen Toph before without her hair in the usual bun, including the hair band. This was the first time she saw Toph wearing her hair down and she was… She couldn't think of another word than fascinated, Toph's hair was pretty long. Probably just as long as Katara's hair, maybe even longer. It was pitch black, it shone like crystals and it flowed like silk, probably as soft as silk too. Katara felt the urge to touch her friend's hair. she wanted to feel it, so she would know if it really _was _as soft as it looked like…

"_Katara, what are you doing? What are you thinking? Toph is just a friend and you can't just reach out and touch her hair and what would you care if it's soft or not? What is _wrong _with you?" _Katara's thoughts yelled, but she had a hard time to fight the urge. In fact, she felt that she'd lose the battle. As if she had no control over her own body anymore, her arms and hands reached out to Toph's hair and softly stroked it. Toph's hair really _was _soft, even softer than Katara imagined.

Toph was abruptly torn from her train of thought when she felt fingertips touching the skin of her left shoulder, barely. She felt her heartbeat speed up and her breaths picked up speed as well, the skin that was being touched by the waterbender's fingertips started to tingle. She felt how Katara was softly touching… no, stroking her hair, it felt rather nice and Toph didn't want Katara's hands to leave so she kept quiet. She felt as if she was glowing from the inside, a ball of warmth had started in her stomach and was now moving up until it reached the spot close to where her heart was located.

Katara got a warm feeling in her stomach, but it was in her chest as well, she couldn't stop stroking Toph's hair. It was as if the waterbender was caught in a trance and unable to snap out of it, no matter how hard her mind was yelling at her to stop. Katara noticed that Toph's breathing had picked up speed; she thought she could also feel the blind girl's heartbeat going faster, but she wasn't sure if that really was the case or that it was her own heartbeat she felt. She saw that the earthbender had closed her eyes and was breathing unevenly, her lips slightly trembling, what was happening?

Toph closed her eyelids and wished Katara wouldn't stop, because Spirits it felt so good. She knew that her cheeks were now colored the darkest shade possible and her heart was beating so fast it'd almost scared her, she couldn't stop it, she had no control over it. She wanted to grab Katara's hand to pull the waterbender closer to her, she dreamed of kissing the slightly older girl often enough. Toph wanted Katara closer, to intertwine her own fingers with Katara's, to touch Katara's lips with her own…

"_Toph! Keep it together! What on Earth are you thinking?! There's no way Katara sees you that way, just stop fooling yourself. Snap out of it, pull away, this is nothing like you. _Do _something to stop her, to stop it, right no—_" Toph cut her own thoughts short, somehow.

Katara barely noticed that her fingers were no longer stroking only Toph's hair; she was touching Toph's shoulder with a very light touch. Moving towards Toph's neck, then the blind girl's ear, tucking a few strands of the girl's black hair behind it. She had no control over her body anymore, it acted on its own, not listening to the commands her thoughts were yelling inside Katara's mind. Her body turned a little towards Toph's, Katara's fingers kept moving, and they were getting closer to the earthbender's lips now. Katara tried to keep her breathing even and steady, which was _way_ harder than it should be. Her fingertips made contact with Toph's upper and lower lip, she had no idea that they'd be so soft as well. Katara now also noticed that Toph's cheeks were colored a very deep red now, she'd swear they couldn't color any darker than they were right now. This also made Katara realize that her own cheeks felt as if burning as well, her whole body was glowing and filled with warmth from inside out. This warmth wasn't caused by the water's temperature.

Toph was afraid she'd faint when she felt Katara's fingertips move to put a few strands of her hair behind her ear shell, but it was even worse when she felt the waterbender's fingertips continue their journey towards Toph's lips.

"_Okay, easy Toph. You're the greatest Earthbender of all nations, so you should be able to keep your breathing under control. You're not going to faint, keep breathing; in- and out, in- and out._"

Toph succeeded in keeping her breathing under control, she wouldn't faint. Not here, not now. Because if she would, Katara would definitely stop and that was the _last_ thing Toph wanted to happen. Katara's fingertips touched Toph's so lightly that she could have used feathers and Toph would have barely noticed the difference. Her lips tingled because of Katara's touch and lingered to the touch of the waterbender's lips, more than ever. Toph had never before experienced any kind of feelings _this _strong, no happiness, relief, sadness, never she had feelings or emotions as strong as Toph was feeling right now.

Katara stared at the blind girl's face, into her milky mint-colored eyes, clear as crystals. She knew that those eyes couldn't see, but even though they didn't function the way they should, Toph's eyes were mesmerizingly beautiful, clear and honest. Katara traced Toph's lips again with her thumb as she laid her hand against Toph's cheek carefully, not wanting to startle the earthbender. But she couldn't control her movements. if she could, Katara would've probably pulled back her hand in embarrassment. Somehow she didn't want to pull away, instead a strong feeling burned in her suddenly. She had absolutely no idea what was happening to her and in a way it scared her, but she couldn't help forgetting about that as her thoughts went back to Toph. She suddenly remembered something Toph had said the night before.

'_"But well, I _haven't_. Are we even again now?" _

_ "You've never kissed before?"_

_ "Wasn't that what I just said? Do you think I'm lying here?!"_'

Toph had never been kissed before, would that have been a hint…? No, it couldn't be, could it? Katara was really confused and wasn't sure what she was supposed to think of it. But her body told her otherwise as it leaned towards the earthbender.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six of _**Revelations**_! My apologies for taking a while to post this(/the next) chapter, I've had some difficulties with writing (describing), but that's all over now ;D

Major thanks to the amazing _FullMetalPrincess_ for being my beta! c:

Please **_do _**let me know what you think by leaving a review? n_n Thank you to everyone who left a review behind on the previous chapters!

Enjoy! c:

* * *

Toph felt Katara's thumb softly tracing her upper- and lower lip again and then she felt Katara's hand against her cheek, causing to make it feel as if Toph's heart was now located in her throat. Her heartbeat and breathing was at top speed when Katara leaned closer to her, Toph could tell by the warmth of Katara's skin she felt close to her own. Toph turned her head, slowly, facing Katara who came closer and closer until Toph could hear Katara's breath, which was uneven and quick as Toph's. It felt like Toph melted on the inside when Katara's lips brushed hers; she was feeling light and very warm inside and her whole body tingled with a sensation she'd never felt before in her life. Toph's body took over control and leaned towards Katara to reunite their lips for a kiss, a soft, light and short kiss. But it was soon followed by another one as Toph pressed her lips on Katara's again, she had dreamed of this so many times, but the dreams were nothing compared to the kiss she got from Katara right now.

She had been denying her feelings for a while, but already figured it was useless. But Toph had never dared to even _dream_ of this happening- not really, she'd always kept a certain distance from the water bending to prevent awkwardness. But also to mask her feelings for the Southern Watertriber, which she got pretty good at after a while. All that was completely gone now, the mask had fallen and Toph was completely naked emotionally, she had no control over her actions right now. Somewhere in the back of her head there was a voice gnawing, trying to get through, but Toph pushed it away.

Katara's breathing was way out of control, it sounded raspy and it was coming quicker with the minute. Toph could probably hear it, as their faces were only inches away from each other. Katara noticed that Toph turned her head in her direction and leaned towards her. Then Katara felt Toph's lips brush hers briefly, but Toph leaned in further and reunited their lips for a kiss, it was soft and short, but enough for Katara to lose the last bit of control as well. She had absolutely no control anymore, the little she still had was now gone too. Katara's lips touched Toph's again for another kiss, once that wasn't as short as the first one.

"_What is going on?! Why am I kissing a _girl_?! Why am I kissing _Toph_?! And why does it feel so… nice? This shouldn't happen, should it? Girls can't kiss girls, can they? But then why does it feel so amazing?" _Katara's thoughts shouted in her mind, not leaving her alone. Katara felt on the edge of crying, but she wasn't sure if that was because she was so enormously confused or because she hadn't felt feelings or emotions _this _strong before.

"S—so that's what kissing's like…" Toph stumbled in a whisper, not wanting to ruin the moment, afraid she'd do or say something stupid. She tried to bring out a laugh, but failed as it came out just as a nervous sound that sounded like a giggle-chuckle.

"I—I, think s—so…" Katara stuttered and gulped, she felt dizzy and as if she was about to lose consciousness.

"_Oh, please say something… Please tell me this wasn't a dream, because if it was, I don't want to wake up…"_ Toph's thoughts were taking all the space in her mind, not allowing anything else to use some of the space. Toph wanted it to stop, because the thoughts that were in her mind right now were unnerving. She was absolutely terrified of what could happen from here, how it could affect the friendship she build up with Katara. Now Katara knew _all _her secrets and it wasn't a pleasant feeling, Toph had _never_ felt _this_ naked, exposed, vulnerable… The earthbender was fighting against the tears that started to well up in her eyes, she didn't want to cry, she _couldn't_ cry; Toph didn't allow herself to.

"_You're strong, Toph. You always have been- you can't show weakness now. Stop being such a wimp, get a grip already!_" Toph's thoughts ordered, causing Toph to pull up the wall around her and bracing herself for whatever was to come. But very deep inside there was a voice, not loud enough to be heard, that tried to tell Toph the opposite. That Toph was only just thirteen, a young girl with feelings, that she was allowed to show these feelings; including crying.

Katara stuttered and gulped, she barely managed to get the words out of her. It sounded stupid, but she couldn't really make a fuss about it since she had to put all her focus on not losing consciousness. Katara felt dizzy and lightheaded, black dots dancing through her sight, clouding it more and more.

"_Don't faint, Katara! Don't faint! Stay awake, breathe!_" she vaguely heard somewhere in the back of her head. Her body trembled and her eyelids fell shut, consciousness slipping from Katara.

Toph felt Katara's body trembling and she looked at the waterbender, if she could only sense something in this damned water. Her sight was really bad, she needed dry and solid earth beneath her, even mud would be welcome at this point.

"Katara?" Toph whispered, but got no answer. She grabbed Katara by the shoulders and shook her lightly, but there still was no response from Katara. Alarm bells went off in Toph's mind, Katara was unconscious and they were still in the hot spring where Toph had as much sight as a badgermole; none. Toph started to panic internally. she was in a hot spring, literally blind, with her friend Katara being unconscious.

"_No, no, no!_" Toph's thoughts yelled and Toph came very close to bursting out into tears. "_Okay, calm down. You can do this, Toph. Chin up. just use your hands to find the solid ground, behind you. Find solid earth and try to climb out and carry Katara with you, you're strong and independent. You've always been, so you _can _do this, Toph!_" her thoughts commanded her. Toph breathed in deeply and reached out behind her, she could feel the ledge, it wasn't too high, but considering she had to carry the waterbender as well… Maybe she could try to bend earth down into the hot spring, a staircase.

Pearls of sweat rolled down over the skin of Toph's forehead and temples, it wasn't so much that Katara was heavy, but the earthbender was shorter than her friend. Even though Toph was feeling physically exhausted, she wouldn't give up, she wouldn't stop trying before she had Katara out of the water safely.

"Come _on! _Damn it Toph, where's your strength?!" Toph hissed, frustrated with herself. She had Katara's body over her back, Katara's head resting next to hers, on her shoulder. Katara's legs were being dragged over the wet earthbent stairs, they were slippery and Toph still didn't have her full 'sight' back. When Toph finally felt solid ground underneath her feet, she was about to cry from happiness and relief. She made it and Katara was safe, or at least her friend wasn't in risk of drowning now. Toph hoped she could get Katara conscious again, but she had no idea how.

"Katara? _Please_, Katara, wake up!" But it was no use; she had to try something else. An idea came to her and Toph carefully walked towards the water, careful to not fall in. She leaned down and did what she feared most and would never have done if it wasn't absolutely necessary; she put her head into the water and filled her mouth with water. She then quickly got up again and got to Katara, spitting out the water in the waterbender's face. Toph heard Katara mumble, but she could tell that Katara still wasn't back to consciousness yet. When Toph was about to lose it, an idea came up to her but Toph had trouble deciding if she should do it… But she didn't have much of a choice, so the earthbender took a deep breath, bracing herself and she leaned over Katara. Her lips touched the waterbender's, soft but urging at the same time, hoping for Katara to come back again. When Toph leaned back again nothing happened for a minute or so, but then Katara's eyelids fluttered and opened up slowly.

"_Katara! _Thank the Spirits, you're back!" Toph cried in relief and swung her arms around the waterbender's neck. "Don't you _ever_ do that to me again! You scared the living hell out of me!" Katara blinked a few times, trying to her sight clear, since it was kinda blurry at first.

"Toph? What… What happened?" Katara asked, completely dumb folded. she'd been unconscious?

"Oh, you just passed out all of a sudden," Toph answered in a sarcastic tone. "Don't you remember… anything?" Toph hesitated before ending her sentence, not too sure about the choice of her words.

"I… I passed out?" Katara tried to remember, but her head hurt and it was all very vague. She remembered being in the hot spring with the earthbender… Suddenly it came back to Katara, like a slap in the face. She and Toph had kissed…

"Yeah, you did. And now I'm exhausted, you have _no _idea how scared I was; I was _really_ blind back there and I was relieved when I finally got you out of the water. To be honest I'm quite surprised with myself that I succeeded in pulling both you and myself out, but let me tell you, that was harder than anything I've done in the past few years, without a doubt." Katara looked up to Toph, sat up and felt sorry, _really _sorry.

"I… Sorry Toph, I've never had the intention to scare or worry you…" Katara apologized in a whisper. her mind was still trying to get it _all _back, what had happened in the hot spring. She and Toph had kissed… And Katara's body told her that she rather had enjoyed it, entirely against her expectations.  
"_What is going on?! Do I… Like Toph? No, she's _just _a friend! Besides, we're both girls, girls can't… Right?_" Katara's thoughts were clouding up her entire mind which caused her not to notice Toph was talking to her.

"It's… Okay, it wasn't like you fainted on _purpose_." Katara didn't respond, Toph sighed. She had let it all gone way too far, she made a real mess of things. Katara would probably hate her, everything was ruined. The bit of friendship she built up with the water bender would be gone now, Toph realized. Again, Toph had to fight the upwelling tears from falling down. She broke the promise that she made to herself, so now she had to face the consequences, no matter how much they'd hurt her. But she was just hoping, almost _praying_ that Katara wouldn't ignore her, shut her out. Because Toph wasn't sure if she'd be able to deal with that, literally.

"I think… I'm going to get dr-dressed and get back to Appa," Toph mumbled, stood up and changed quicker than ever. She didn't really care enough to put her hair back into her usual bun, plus; Katara still had her hairpins- and band. Katara looked up, shaking her head to get herself back to reality. She saw Toph taking off her swimsuit and noticed that her cheeks flushed, again. Katara couldn't look away from Toph's body, the creamy pale skin, the small breasts that were still growing, and down her belly—

"_Katara, stop it! You can't stare at Toph like that, even though she won't see that you're staring, you're still not supposed to!_" Katara's thoughts demanded her to look away and it worked. But the urge to let her eyes wander off to Toph again was strong, and it frustrated Katara.

"Toph, wh— What's wrong?" Katara asked, her voice cracked and there was no question that Toph heard it clearly as well. The young earthbender looked up, bewildered. She was now fully dressed in her daily outfit again, except for her hair band, which felt odd.

"What do you mean, 'what's wrong'? I'm _fine_," Toph lied and turned her back towards Katara. She didn't want to walk away from the waterbender, but she _had_ to.

She marched away and sat down against Appa, who let out a soft roar and put its giant head closer to the earthbender.

"Thanks, Appa," Toph whispered and caressed the fur on his cheek, she found comfort in the big animal's semi-embrace. This time she couldn't avoid tears streaming down her face, she let it all out. She made sure Katara was at safe distance and she made sure to keep her voice soft as a whisper.

"I'm so stupid, Appa. I'm such an _idiot_! I shouldn't have let it happen, because now she'll hate me, Katara will not even want me as a friend anymore…" Another soft roar came from Appa and Toph sighed, Appa wouldn't understand her or be able to respond, but it felt nice though. She just imagined as if the sky bison _did_ understand her and just offered a listening ear, which was good enough for now.

"Maybe if I just try to act like I always do to everybody, pull my walls up, it'll be as if nothing ever happened and we can just stay friends," Toph wondered out loud.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven of _**Revelations**_! I'm not sure when the next chapter will come, but I'll try to not take too long to post it; it's just that I like to have a little stash. But the reviews sure _do_ motivate me and make me smile, honestly! n_n

Major thanks to the amazing _FullMetalPrincess_ for being my beta! c:

Thanks to everybody who left a review behind on the last chapter(s)! Now this is a long enough intro, I'd say;

Enjoy! c:

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Katara felt guilty, she wasn't exactly sure why, but she couldn't shake the feeling off of her. She was hoping that Toph wouldn't be mad at her and really _was_ okay like she'd claimed to be. Katara was confused, it felt as if it was all a blur; a dream that was going on and on and she wasn't waking up from it. She looked up and blinked, hoping to be able to keep back tears. Then she saw that the sun was starting to go under, which alarmed her. "_Aang and Sokka!_" her thoughts shouted in her mind and Katara stood up very suddenly, causing the waterbender to get a dizzy feeling and nearly falling down, not yet steady on her feet.

"Toph!" she shouted, voice hoarse. Katara hoped that the earthbender would be able to hear her. She put her clothes back on and fast-walked towards the direction Toph had gone to. It took her a while before she got Appa and the earthbender in sight. "Toph!" she shouted again and fell down after stumbling over a rock she didn't see. The waterbender grunted and sighed, trying to get up again.

Toph heard Katara yell her name, at first she didn't want to answer, but she couldn't ignore the panic in the Southern watertriber's voice. Then she heard Katara falling and grunting, Toph couldn't help it, she stood up and rushed towards the waterbender using her earthbending. When she felt that she was close to Katara she stopped and helped her friend up.

"What is it?" she asked and heard Katara sucking in a breath.

"Sokka and Aang… The sun's setting and they're still not back…" Katara answered in a whisper. Toph sighed and shook her head, this couldn't be very good.

"Should we go look for them?" the earthbender asked, already determined to go look for the guys no matter what Katara's answer would be.

"Yes, I think we should...I'm just worried. What if something _bad_ happened to them, Toph?" Worry sounded clearly in Katara's voice, she truly was the mother of the group.

"Listen Sugar Queen, Twinkle Toes and Meathead might be two goofballs, but they know how to fight. I'm sure they can handle it, whatever it is. And you know them too; you know that they'll be okay even _if_ they're in trouble." Katara looked at her friend and sighed again, but then a smile appeared on her face; Toph was right. Sokka was amazing with his boomerang and Aang had mastered three of the four elements by now, so he'd be able to defend the two of them as well.

"You're right, but still I think we should go look for them," Katara replied and Toph nodded.

"Do you know how to ride Appa?" Toph asked, although it was more a statement than a question. Katara shrugged and gulped.

"I think so…" she said and walked toward the gigantic Sky Bison together with Toph and helped the Earthbender up into the saddle; Katara herself positioned herself on Appa's shoulders, taking the reins that were fastened around Appa's horns. Katara took a deep breath and slumped her shoulders, hoping she'd do this right.

"Yip yip, Appa," she said and the Sky Bison took off, into the air.

"There's the village," Katara shouted over her shoulder and directed Appa towards it, hoping for a safe landing. "Hold on!" she said and leaned a bit back to keep balance. Luckily Appa landed very carefully and lowered himself so Katara and Toph could get off more easily, a roar escaping its big jowls.

"Thank Spirits; I was afraid you wanted to look for Twinkle Toes and Snoozles riding Appa. At least now I've got my sight back," Toph said, relieved.

"At first, that _was _my plan, but I figured that if something happened you might not be able to help us with Earthbending." Toph raised one eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips.

"Oh, that's the only reason? How nice," the earthbender growled, slightly offended. Katara turned to face Toph in surprise, that wasn't what she meant.

"No, that's _not_ the only reason, Toph. But it's part of the reason, because if you can't earthbend, you could get hurt and I don't want to risk that…" Katara mumbled the last part of the sentence, fiddling with a strand of her hair that was partly loose. '_Oh…_' Toph thought, embarrassed at how quickly she assumed things that weren't completely true.

"Th—thank you…?" Toph's voice was higher than it normally was; she cleared her throat and straightened her stance. "But enough time wasted, let's go find those two so we can continue our trip towards Ba Sing Se," Toph said and started walking. Katara was slightly surprised by Toph's sudden change of stance and shook her head, she wasn't sure if she was just imagining it again or not.

"Er, Toph? The village is _this_ way," Katara said, making clear that Toph was walking into the wrong direction. Toph turned around, fists placed on her sides.

"Are you sure, Sugar Queen? I've got my sight back, you know. I can _feel_ the streets and all right _there_," she responded, pointing into the opposite direction where Katara just pointed; where Toph was heading towards. Katara followed Toph's index finger and the only thing she could see was grass and a forest farther away, whatever Toph thought she was seeing, it surely wasn't the village. Katara looked towards the other direction, where she _did _see the village; lots of little streets, stalls, tiny houses and little stores, but very few people walking in the streets; which seemed odd to the waterbender.

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure, Toph. That's why I don't understand… Can you try to describe what exactly you see?" Katara asked and Toph sighed, but nodded.

"There's a village, alright. Lots of houses, streets that are kinda narrow and people all over the place. But there's something _weird_ about it…" Katara gulped and Toph looked up, but before she could ask anything, the waterbender already started to explain herself.

"Maybe because the village isn't _above_ the ground…" Katara said in a whisper with wide eyes. That could be the _only _explanation; the village had to be _under_ the ground… Toph put her right foot down on the earth with force and Katara jumped a little, she hadn't noticed Toph had moved, so it surprised her. She saw now that Toph had closed her eyes and stood in a strong and steady stance, her fists in front of her. Suddenly Toph's eyes looked up in Katara's direction, shock clearly visible in them.

"Y-you're right…" the earthbender whispered and blinked a few times. "There's a whole village _under_ the ground, just a few feet from where we're standing now. It's so… _weird_…"

"Do you think the boys will be there?" Katara asked, wondering. But Toph shook her head in answer.

"Guess not, I mean, it'd be more logical for them to go towards the village you were talking about."

"Hmm, I don't know, Toph… Something tells me that they're probably in the village underground, the one you 'saw'," Katara mumbled, luckily Toph's ears were sensitive, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to hear it. "I think we should go there and look for the guys," the waterbender said, now more clearly.

"Well, if you really think so, I'll go with you, but… What do we do if it's… A trap?" Somehow Toph didn't have a very good feeling about this place, it didn't feel _right_. "I have an idea!" she said and started running back towards Appa, making a hand gesture towards Katara to come with her. Katara hesitated, but decided to go with the earthbender.

"Appa, we _have_ to find Twinkle Toes and Meathead. But the village we think they are, is underground," Toph started to explain to the Sky Bison, who roared and stepped a few steps backwards. "I know, I _know_, you don't like underground. That's why you must stay here and wait for us to get back, okay? If we aren't back when it's fully dark, please find help," Toph continued and Appa groaned. He didn't seem to like the idea, but there really wasn't any other choice. Toph put her arms around Appa's neck, as far as her arms could reach and turned around. Katara petted the Sky Bison's cheek and whispered a soft goodbye, then turned around as well and followed the earthbender. Appa walked towards a big bush and hid himself behind it, as far as it allowed him to, destined to wait for the group and his master to come back.

"Okay, let's see… _There's_ a staircase that leads down towards the village!" Toph said as she sensed the earth to look for a way to get to the village. Katara nodded and took a few steps back, giving Toph the space she needed; the earthbender raised her arms up in front of her, then moved both her arms to her sides. The earth in front of her split and showed an earthbent staircase that, indeed, lead them down. It was pitch dark and Katara hated to admit to herself that to her it was scary to her. There was no light at all. All she could see when looking down was blackness.

"There aren't any lights, nothing, it's pitch black…" Katara gasped and Toph turned her head towards the Southern Watertriber. To her it didn't matter, of course, but something inside her twisted, she felt bad for Katara. She wasn't used to having no sight, like Toph.

"Well, welcome to _my world_ Sweetness," she said, but then sighed. "I'll help you, don't worry. We'll switch places and I'll be the guide this time," Toph told Katara and held out her hand to Katara. "Come on, let's find those two problem magnets." Katara smiled and then chuckled at Toph's new nickname for the boys.

"Okay, let's go. And oh, Toph…? _Thanks_," Katara replied as she took Toph's hand and followed the blind girl into the darkness.

It really was pitch black; it was frightening to Katara how much she suddenly could hear now that her eyes were in extreme disadvantage. Her breathing was rapid and her body momentarily froze at every tiny little sound she heard; she jumped when Toph suddenly jerked her hand away.

"Listen Sugar Queen, I really want to help and guide, but it's kinda hard when you practically jump at every tiny little crunch or squeak. It's making me nervous for nothing, and it's not helping me with trying to sense what's underneath or in front of us; please trust me and _try_ to calm a bit down," Toph hissed and Katara noticed how she'd been keeping her breath all the while Toph spoke to her.

"I-I'm sorry T-Toph…" Katara stuttered, ashamed. Toph sighed, she felt slightly guilty; even though there was absolutely no reason for her to. She grabbed Katara's hand again and gave it a gentle squeeze with her own, trying to soothe the waterbender a little.

"Just _try,_ okay?" Toph asked in a whisper and when she heard Katara nod, she started walking again. Suddenly she stopped and Katara bumped into her, almost making Toph lose her balance.

"What is it?"

"It's getting really steep from here on… Maybe I should carry you—"

"I can walk myself pretty fine, Toph—" Toph sighed.

"I _know that_, Katara, but I'm not joking; it's _really_ steep. If I don't watch out, I'd fall over _myself_," Toph interrupted the waterbender who now gulped. Toph sensed that Katara now realized she wasn't exaggerating. This time it was Katara who sighed and she let Toph's hand go.

"Okay… I guess there isn't really any other way…" Katara said in a whisper, instantly nervous again. She'd be on Toph back, for Spirits knew how long. And there was no escaping from Toph sensing her heartbeat going crazy, which was probably the worst. "_Just think about stupid things; like Sokka's dirty socks or Aang's silly faces." _Katara exhaled and reached out her hands and arms carefully. "Are you sure you can carry me? I'm not _that_ light you kno—"

"Oh _please_, Sweetness. I can carry you, easily," Toph laughed and took Katara on her back. "Now just hold on tight, okay?" Toph said and hopped down the stairs with caution. This was much easier than having to go step for step at extremely slow pace, she didn't blame Katara; not at all. But this was just easier for the earthbender, they were much faster too.


	8. Chapter 8

My sincerest apologies for taking so long to post this chapter! _Please_ forgive me? :c I've been having a bit lack of inspiration lately, but then suddenly I got it back, but for something else than '_Revelations_'... I'm still busy on a writing with Toph & Lin Bei Fong and posted two chapters of my (new) Korrasami (possibly) three(?)-shot. So yeah, again; SORRY! :c

This chapter has been beta'd already by my amazing beta-reader _**FullMetalPrincess**_ and I wanna thank her for it! Now, I've kept you guys waiting long enough!

Enjoy! c:

* * *

"Whoa!" Katara gasped and tightened her grip around Toph's neck, closing her eyes and burying her face in the earthbender's neck. Toph smirked and couldn't help but notice the tingling feeling Katara caused by tightening her grip on the earthbender, she could go on for hours like this if she had to and not even mind.

"I think we're almost there," Toph whispered and felt Katara nod slightly, she was surprised at how well she'd been able to focus even though the waterbender was on her back. She felt Katara's heartbeat against her back, but also the waterbender's 'curves'. Toph blushed and shook her head slightly at herself. "_Focus Toph! It went so well so far, don't screw it up _now_!_" Katara looked up as she heard a low murmur of voices in the distance, they were getting closer now. "Duck!" Toph hissed and Katara raised an eyebrow, but then realized what Toph meant and ducked her head down.

"What was it?" Katara whispered and felt Toph shrug her shoulders, as far as that was possible. "Stop, I'll get off of your back—"

"What? No!" Toph hissed and tightened her arms around Katara's legs more firmly.

"It's okay, Toph, there's light a few feet from us," Katara replied and Toph sighed but then let her arms drop, Katara hopped off and looked into the distance. The murmur was way louder now and there were lit torches on the walls of rock an earth, allowing Katara to see again. "There's a… gate?"

"It requires earthbending to open it, step back," Toph said and felt Katara stepping away from her to the right, Toph raised her one leg and both her arms. She stomped her foot down and 'pushed' the gate open with a forceful movement of her arms to the right and left; they reached the village. An overwhelming amount of noise met the two girls and for a moment Toph felt dizzy by the sudden volume-change.

"Wow…" Katara breathed and stared at the crowded street in front of her. People turned around and looked at them directly, a few looked alarmed, a few shocked and others suspicious and judging.

"Psst, Katara, don't stare at them; try to act 'normal', as if we belong here. I really don't have a good feeling about this, so maybe that'll make it easier for us. I doubt we want trouble in _this _place…" Katara looked at Toph and nodded, straightening her stance, trying to look confident. The girls walked forward, through the gate and ignored the stares. When they just passed, the gate closed behind them. Somehow it gave Katara a bad feeling; maybe Toph had been right about this place. It really _didn't _feel good… That was when Katara looked around and came to realize something she should've before already. "What is it?" Toph hissed and Katara gulped.

"Most of them are… dressed in… all kind of shades of red…" Katara breathed, knowing only Toph would be capable of hearing it. Toph's body stiffened at Katara's comment, knowing _exactly _what that meant; Fire Nation citizens. It was even worse than Toph feared, because if the boys _were_ here, it was bad; _very_ bad.

"Just… Just walk, Katara, we'll find them and then we're out of this stink hole," Toph hissed underneath her breath and the girls marched on, through the mass of people.

.

"Get away from our friends or I'll bury you!" Toph yelled as she bent an entrance in the rocky wall that separated them from Aang and Sokka. Toph had no idea who this person was, but what she _did_ know was that the person was pretty strong. Then she heard malicious laughter, annoyingly high; obviously a female. Toph hated her already.

"Oh, I'm _shaking_." Toph gritted her teeth and heard Katara do the same, Toph stuck her hand out beside her; gesturing to Katara that she shouldn't do anything, _yet._

"Too bad you're lying, you _should _be," Toph snapped and steadied her stance. She heard the muffled voices of Aang and Sokka, trying to say things; but it was no use. Toph put her right foot down in front of her, sensing the exact location of both the boys and the female. The boys were farther away, against a column…? The female was about five feet from Toph.

"You really don't have a _clue_ who I am, do you? Because if you did, _you_ would certainly be shaking—"

"I don't _care_ who you are, but I know that you're a pain in the ass!"

"Is that so? Well, that's something we have in common, then…" Toph was tired of this nonsense and shot a big rock towards the female, big and _pointy_, but to Toph's surprise it had no effect, the female was gone before the rock reached her. "Let me introduce myself; Azula, daughter of the Fire Lord," she said as she shot blue lightening in Toph's direction.

"Toph, duck!" Katara yelled and sprang towards Toph, knocking her over. They fell down on top of each other and Toph shook her head to clear it, so that girl was the Fire princess. Toph leaned towards Katara's face and started whispering.

"I'll keep this Fire girl busy, you get to Twinkle Toes and Boomerang guy and try to get them out of here. Whenever you can, _go. Don't _wait for me. I'll catch up with you."

"But—"

"In the Spirits' name, Sugar Queen, just _do it_!" Toph hissed and heard Katara sigh and slowly nod. "_Good_, now let me teach this ballerina some manners," Toph said and stood up, helping Katara to get up at the same time.

.

"Azula, I wasn't _done_ with you yet!" Toph turned her head towards the male voice, she didn't recognize it.

"Zu-zu, I was just about to have some _fun_," Azula answered and Toph concentrated, trying to sense the whole situation. Katara was with the boys, so that was good.

"_Zu-zu? Who is Zu-zu? Her pet, brother, friend?" _Toph's thoughts were quietly in the back of her head, her focus was at the two people she was in between right now.

"I don't _care_!" Azula sighed in reply.

"Zu-zu, go play with your dolls or something, I'm _done_ with you." That was when the chaos started, Toph was overwhelmed, which was _rare_; she rarely got overwhelmed. They were Fire benders-that was absolutely certain, this Azula person was the Fire Nation's princess, or that was what she claimed. Another thing that was certain was that Katara and the boys weren't at the column anymore; Katara had succeeded.

"_Good job, Sugar Queen," _Toph thought with a smirk and punched her fists in the air; the wall behind Azula crumbled and fell on top of her. "_There's your rock avalanche, princess_." Toph felt no movement from where Azula was and started to run in the direction of the pathway she created herself; Katara would have taken the _exact _same way back, no doubt. But she wasn't far when she felt that she was being followed.

"Wait!" Toph ignored it and sent some rocks flying backwards behind her, but a few moments later she sensed that she was _still_ being followed.

"What do you want? Also feel like getting yourself buried in earth?" Toph snapped, never stopping running.

"No, I _know _who you are and I can _help_ you—"

"And why should I trust you?"

"… You don't, but I'm serious; I can help you guys—"

"_One_ bad move and you're buried. Now _keep up_, I'm not going to wait for you." Toph ended the discussion and reached the end of the tunnel-path and kept running through the mass of people. She knew the gate wasn't far anymore, when she was close she made the same movement as when she and Katara entered and heard it open. She slid through and made a hand-gesture so the gate would close again, without looking if the guy made it through. But then she sensed him beside her and she ran up the earthbent stairs without glancing towards her company, finally she reached the opening that would lead her to the others. 'Zu-zu' was out now too and Toph bent the earth around them so the opening would no longer be, in case anyone would come after them; this would buy them some more time.

.

"Katara?!" Toph yelled, not sensing her friends _anywhere_. Fear slowly crept up in the earthbender, all kind of worst-case scenarios went through her mind; what if Katara and the boys _hadn't_ made it and they were still in the underground village?

"Toph! Thank Spirits you're alright!" Katara shouted down from Appa. Aang made Appa land and Katara rushed towards the earthbender; not able to keep it in. She flung her arms around the blind girl and hugged her tightly; Toph was actually taken by surprise by the sudden embrace of the waterbender. Toph's heart jumped a little, picking up speed. She was relieved that her friends, especially Katara, were alright.

"I'm glad you're okay, too Sweetness," Toph admitted in a whisper and then remembered the three guys around them, her body stiffening. "Eh, Katara… We're—"

"Oh! Right…" Katara mumbled, slightly ashamed. She let her arms drop and sighed, she wanted to talk to Toph; she _had_ to talk to Toph.

"What are _you _gawking at?" Toph snapped as she turned around. "Now get on Appa, you've got some explaining to do."

"Eh Toph, are you sure we should—"

"Yes, I already told him it takes just _one_ bad move for me to bury him. Or I'll just throw him off of Appa," Toph interrupted Aang and glared at the Fire Nation boy called 'Zu-zu'. "What are you waiting for? I'm not going to _carry_ you on Appa."

"Right." The guy replied and climbed on Appa's saddle, landing beside Sokka and Momo; who was on Sokka's shoulders.

"But he's—!"

"Sokka, leave it, he'll explain us _everything_ in just a minute," Toph interrupted the non-bender of the group. She liked him, a _lot_, she could laugh with him and _at_ him; but sometimes he didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. Sokka just glared at the boy next to him, as if to say 'I'm watching you.'

Toph walked towards Appa together with Katara, resting her cheek against Appa's fur as a greeting and then got helped up on Appa's saddle by the waterbender. Toph sat down and crossed her arms, face towards the Fire Nation boy.

"Talk."


End file.
